The masked bird
by Lazuliblur
Summary: In which Kagami Uchiha succumbs to his clan's "curse of hatred". (Dark AU, canonical character death)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: _Naruto_ is Kishimoto's. Guys, let's make a deal: if you read this, whether you like it or not, could you leave some kind of review? Even one word is enough. Thanks!**

* * *

 _"Hate is a bottomless cup; I will pour and pour"_

 _Euripides,_ Medea

* * *

Kagami's house is dark and quiet as he arrives and yet he knows that it is not empty.

He stands in the entrance hall for a moment – a minute, an hour – wishing that there would come the sound of a sliding paper door or of some object falling as a result of a mishap.

In vain. No sound will come.

When he reaches down to unfasten his sandals, he is surprised to find himself holding an unfamiliar leather notebook.

 _"Congratulations," Tobirama says. "From this moment on, we are no longer master and student, but equals. In honour of this occasion, I would like to offer you a gift. Take your pick of any item you see in my study and it is yours."_

Kagami studies the patches on the worn leather, the stains where once an image might have been glued to the cover, the fraying thread holding yellow pages together, the odour of disinfectant and chemicals that clings to the material.

The calm ruptures.

He rips the pages off the book and throws it at the wall hard enough to damage the white paint.

The notebook lays gutted in the corner, pages shredded, but Kagami does not care. His bare feet slap against the floorboards as he runs to the farthest room in the house for shelter.

He slides the door open and freezes, suddenly ashamed of making so much noise. His father is resting.

As has been his routine for years now, Kagami closes the door behind him, before approaching the bed to kiss his father's forehead. Then he lies down next to the man, on his side so that he can study his profile in the slanted light coming in from shaded windows.

Of all of the old man's children, Kagami is perhaps the one who most closely resembles him, physically. They have the same nose, the same thin eyebrows and the same unruly hair, though age has yet to thin Kagami's. This fact has always been a source of comfort, proof of a connection that no one could deny.

 _"Is he still in there?" five-year-old Kagami asks after his father is brought home from a mission gone horribly wrong. "Can he hear us?"_

 _His mother says nothing. She is crying too much to be able to hear anything that anyone says, much less a little boy's timid question. Kagami's big sister and big brother are both away for the moment, so it is up to him to understand what has befallen his father, while holding his younger brother's hand and pretending that he is not as terrified as him._

 _The old doctor answers, but it is nothing that Kagami wanted to hear._

 _"We don't know."_

Kagami shifts closer to lean his head against his father's shoulder. He smells dust on the sheets and his mother's favourite rose soap on his father's skin.

The faint rise and fall of the chest beneath his cheek soothes him, but once again that peace is not meant to last. As soon as he opens his eyes, his gaze catches the tiny shards of a round glass phial that rest atop the room's dresser.

 _"Good choice, Kagami," Tobirama says, holding up the dark wooden rack full of tiny round glass phials of various shapes, each holding one clear portion of fluid. "These poisons will compliment your fighting style well._

 _"The one that you're holding now, for example, is a particularly sadistic one. I created it over a decade ago, derived from krait venom. The pain as it burns through the nervous system is unbearable. It culminates with the destruction of the victim's brain from the inside, but never fades. Even after the mind is gone, the body will live on and continue to feel it." He points to the leather notebook next to the rack. "Make sure that none of those ever touch your skin. Most do not have antidotes."_

Kagami presses his face to the fabric of his father's shirt.

"It was his lab that you were raiding back then, wasn't it?"

He takes a deep breath, letting the scent of dust and rose soap comfort him for one last time, before pulling back. A second glance at the tiny phial on top of the dresser confirms what he already knows. The shards retrieved from his father's body after the accident that disabled him match the design of Tobirama's personalised poison containers.

"You're not in there anymore, are you? You haven't been there for years. Dad... I'm sorry that you had to suffer all this time. We didn't know."

Kagami picks up a pillow and hugs it to his chest.

"...Goodbye."

It is hard to tell when an assassination is over when the victim's body offers no resistance or reaction. Kagami tries to smother his father one time, two times, only to find that he has miscalculated how long a human body could go without air. By the third attempt, he has learnt to wait beyond what he expects to be enough.

He leans his cheek up to his father's nose and feels no breath. It is done.

His eyes sting.

Blood and tears mix as he looks at the world in a new light. The Mangekyou feels strange, both more natural than the regular Sharingan, sharper and more willing to be used, and yet more dangerous, like it is ready to turn against not just his enemies, but against Kagami himself.

His father's old body is aglow with the last remnants of his life energy and Kagami makes himself watch until the last wisps have bled out.

Just before the colours fade to the dead greys of inanimate objects, Kagami hears a whisper in his mind.

" _Ka... gami..._ "

Then the only colour left is the tainted blue of his own hands resting against his father's neck.

"I'll kill him," the boy promises. His voice breaks, but he puts all his heart into the oath. He cannot bear to keep his eyes open anymore, as the tears slide down his cheeks and land on his father's unfeeling skin. "I'll kill him, for you. I know that I'm no match for him, but I swear it, even if it takes me the rest of my life, I will kill Tobirama Senju."


	2. Chapter 2

_Tense_ does not begin to describe the atmosphere during this war-time edition of the five Kage meeting. The Land of Hot Water is the selected venue and the resident ninjas, who had remained neutral throughout the war despite their geographical position, had agreed to provide the security. In truth, the name of the country has never felt more appropriate.

The leaders of the five great elemental nations had called a temporary truce to discuss a possible resolution to the war, but when they could not even fulfill the pre-established terms of the meeting, it seemed certain that all their efforts were doomed from the start. Each Kage had agreed to bring one squad as their escort, but the definition of how many people the traditional three-man squad consisted of was apparently up for debate.

Tobirama had doubled the number, merging his team with his late brother's and dubbing them one unit. The Mizukage had gone one step further and brought all seven of the Mist's Swordsmen with him. The Sand ninjas had contained themselves to a squad of four puppet users from their infamous Brigade, but the amount of puppets that everyone knew that they carried in their scrolls meant that that number would be tripled in practical terms. No one had outdone the Raikage. He had brought the ten strongest members of the Kinkaku Force with him and tried to sell to the other Kage the notion that he was at a disadvantage because he only had half a team with him. (No one doubted that the remaining ten members of the force would be waiting somewhere close by.) Finally, the Tsuchikage's delegation had raised a few eyebrows and sent a few people into reevaluating the man's willingness to commit suicide if it meant bringing the rest of the Kage down with him. The tactics of the Explosion Corps were not known to be kind on enclosed spaces.

The Kage argued back and forth around the table, throwing barbs and accusations. Behind each of them stood one bodyguard – Koharu, in Tobirama's case. A pretty face to lull the others into a false sense of security. The rest of the Kage's escorts were not allowed in the room. They were dispersed throughout the castle of the land's Daimyou, keeping a close eye on what the others were doing.

Kagami had found himself a spot in a high gallery overlooking the meeting room. Tobirama had ordered him to stay somewhere with a view to the room. His sharingan and long range genjutsu skills were to be the Leaf's secret weapon in case conversations failed.

Kagami sends a cold smile to the Rock and Mist ninjas that share the balcony with him. So many strong ninjas in one place, so many already properly motivated to carry out Kagami's revenge for him. It is hard to refrain himself from picking more than one group, but he has to keep in mind that even his mangekyou sharingan has limits and he risks having imperfect control over his targets by casting too wide a net. He believes, however, that explosives and swords alone would not be enough to bring down the fastest man in the world. He excuses himself from his post to explore the castle.

He comes across a Sand ninja first. The puppets are an interesting weapon and full of surprises. It was hard to counter them when you never knew what their individual specifications were. Had the Kazekage brought more than four men with him, Kagami would have considered taking their team. As it is, they are too few. Tobirama would break them like children's toys.

Hiruzen stands next to that ninja. Kagami gives him a nod to indicate that all is well and moves on.

He takes a left turn into the next corridor, thinking that there is really only one choice. The Kinkaku twins, former leaders of Lightning's eponymous force, had once before come close to taking both the Hokage's and the Raikage's lives. At the time, Kagami had been fighting at the front in the Land of Rivers, close to the border with Sand. When the news reached him of the event, he had prayed every night that the doctors back home failed, that they made some mistake, that Tobirama's injuries proved too severe. When word arrived two days after that the Hokage was back on his feet, Kagami had had to grit his teeth and endure his teammates and allies' night-long celebrations.

The Uchiha now hopes that there are others left on the Kinkaku Force of the same caliber as their former captains who could finish the job.

He wanders the halls, his mangekyou flashing to life every time that he comes across a Lightning ninja to imprint one simple command into their brains: _I am your master and you will obey me without question_. The rest of the Kinkaku Force lying in wait elsewhere are beyond his reach, but that is all right. A little real danger will help to sell Kagami's act that he is as much of a target as the rest of his team while they make their escape.

He counts to ten and, when he is done, quietly returns to the balcony overlooking the room where the meeting is still taking place. It is just as he left it: loud and angry. The only reason the Kage have not called it off yet is because if they did, when tempers run hot and resentments are stoked, they would immediately draw swords on each other. The Hot Water ninjas are doing everything in their power to keep the war out of their borders.

Later, as the Hokage's delegation is on their way back home, surrounded by the Kinkaku Force, Kagami struggles to keep an even voice.

"Someone will have to lure them away..."

His heart thumps in his chest and his hands tremble. He keeps them clenched over his knees and his eyes down on the ground to hide the glint of excitement that is surely there, as the rest of the conversation unfolds from there. He has no doubt that Tobirama will not let anyone else play the decoy. That, too, is part of the Senju's version of "love".

The time for Kagami to fulfill the oath that he made his father has come at last, to take revenge on the man who had destroyed him. This truth vibrates in the marrow of Kagami's bones. And he loves it.


	3. Chapter 3

The leaves crush under Kagami's feet as he walks into the clearing. Water drips from the singed evergreen branches as if it were raining and shuriken and kunai stick out of the tree trunks in a poor imitation of a forest of steel.

The chaos pleases him. What pleases him more is the sight of the man kneeling in the centre, blood painting the side of his face as he is held down by Lightning ninjas.

"Hello, sensei," he says.

The heads of the Lightning ninjas turn in his direction, but they do not react otherwise. The influence of Kagami's mangekyou sharingan is stronger than any man's will. They are hopeless to escape its control.

"Mind, technique, body. Wasn't that your favourite saying?" Kagami asks as he kneels in front of the defeated Senju.

"Kagami...?"

He pushes the hair clear from Tobirama's face and tosses the happuri to the side. By now, his dear old sensei has moved past his confusion in seeing Kagami so comfortable in the company of their enemies and replaced that look with a glare.

Kagami ignores it. He reaches into his pocket and takes out a tiny glass phial. It should be familiar enough for the Senju to not need Kagami explaining what it is. He had given it to the boy years ago, after all – and used it to cripple the boy's father before that.

"Let's try something, shall we?"

Kagami keeps his sharingan focused on Tobirama's face as he breaks the phial against the Senju's skin. He does not want to miss any detail of the expressions that cross his face. Moreover, he wants to be able to remember them for years to come.

The skin around Tobirama's eyes scrunches and the scars on his cheeks flutter as he clenches his teeth. A tremor runs over his body and the Lightning ninjas clamp down on his shoulders to keep him in place.

It takes no time at all for the shakes to stop, and that disappoints Kagami. Only slightly, because he knows that the pain has not truly gone. Tobirama simply cannot externalise it any more. The poison has seen to it that his body is beyond his control.

"Oops. I suppose the body part is gone now. But you're still in there, aren't you? Aware of everything that's happening to you, but unable to do a thing about it. Surprise."

Tobirama had told him that this poison completely destroyed the mind, but he had been wrong. The mangekyou sharingan lets Kagami look into his consciousness as if it possessed substance and the fire is still there, plain to see.

The boy smiles. He is sure that Tobirama does not understand why his former student is doing this, does not understand the reason for his death, but Kagami does not care to explain either. The Senju's sins are many. He might as well take his pick. But there is one thing that he does want the man to have no doubts about:

"To think that I once genuinely admired you…"

It is a fact that shames Kagami, how he had once been so taken by the man's ideology. He had thought of him as a mentor, as someone worthy of Kagami devoting his life to.

To think that he had been worshiping his own father's killer still revolts him.

He shakes his head.

"And now it ends," he declares.

He stands up to pick up his sensei's sword where it has been discarded during the fight against the Kinkaku force. It is caked in dirt and blood, but Kagami does not wipe it clean. Murderers do not deserve that much respect.

It slides in with little to no resistance past the cracked armour, the sharp blade slipping just under the ribs on the left side, angled upward to pierce the lungs and main arteries.

There is still no reaction from Tobirama, but Kagami did not expect one. He smiles and leans in close to whisper into his ear, wanting to possess those final moments before death takes the Senju.

"Goodbye, sensei."

And then he walks away, to rejoin his squad mates on the way back to the Leaf. His promise to his father is kept. The Lightning ninjas can have what is left of the Senju. Kagami hopes that they will leave little of him intact after they are through experimenting with his body.


	4. Chapter 4

_"Once it has taken root in your heart,_  
 _hatred is the most difficult thing in the world to shake off."_

 _Haruki Murakami,_ The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle

* * *

It has been eight days since Tobirama's death and Hiruzen is apparently going to insist on giving the man full funerary honours.

After spending more money than the war-torn village could afford on a grandiose funeral and then spending vast amounts again three days later in a second ceremony to remember their "greatest teacher", here they are on the seventh day mark since the man's belongings were burnt in place of his body to pay their respects yet another time.

It would wear on the patience of a saint. With all the fighting that is still taking place throughout the country, remembering a man whose name Kagami would sooner erase from history books is the last thing that he wants to do.

During the first two times, Kagami had managed to avoid making any public demonstrations. His presence at the back of the procession had been enough to assuage the masses who had come for the spectacle. The absence of tears on his part had not gone unnoticed, but that had easily been forgotten. Tobirama himself had been the first to advocate that tears were useless to a ninja.

Today, though, it looks as though Hiruzen has finally reached the end of the list of people who he could ask to speak in honour of their beloved lost leader. Kagami tried to explain that he was unsuitable for the job, that public speaking was not his forte, but Hiruzen insisted and since it might have raised a number of eyebrows if Kagami had outright refused, here he is now.

He stands behind a podium, in front of an audience as they wipe tears from the corners of their eyes. Some are fake, but the majority, Kagami suspects, are quite genuine.

They had not known the Senju like he did.

Anyone would think that Tobirama _wasn't_ , in fact, directly responsible for killing many of those who presently made the Leaf cemetery their home. Anyone would think that dozens of their fellow countrymen _weren't_ , in fact, dying every day on the front lines of the still ongoing First Shinobi World War.

"Today, we mark the passing of a great man," he begins. "The last great ninja of one of the Leaf's noble clans."

The Senju are scattered throughout the crowd – one here, speaking to an Inuzuka, another there, consoling their forlorn family. Until that exact moment, Kagami had not realised how fortunate he was to have the opportunity to address them like this. From this vantage point, he can see them all and their sorrow makes him feel _alive_.

 _Yes. Cry, like I did for my family. I did this to you, you bastards._

Kagami looks at Hiruzen. Even his eyes are watery. How pathetic.

"The Second Hokage once told me that he considered everyone in this village, all of us, to be his family. To the Uchiha, there is nothing more important than family, so it warmed my heart to hear that. I think that, more than any signed treaties, that kind of attitude was what put an end to the bloody era that came before. I was proud to stand beside such a great man."

Until that moment, Kagami had not consciously realised that bringing Tobirama to his knees had not been enough to satisfy him. He was proud that he had done it and gotten away with it, but now he sees that his work is not over.

It would never be over, for as long as his family was threatened by the Senju's "love".

"So, to the Senju, I would say this: I will do everything in my power to keep these ideals alive, to protect this village, _my family_ , from anyone who would do them harm. This I promise you, and I always keep my promises."


End file.
